(a) Appointment of Commercial Service Officers to serve with Executive Directors

The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall appoint a procurement officer, who is a representative of the International Trade Administration or a Commercial Service Officer of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service, to serve, on a full-time or part-time basis, with each of the Executive Directors of the multilateral development banks in which the United States participates.

(b) Functions of officers

Each procurement officer appointed under subsection (a) of this section shall assist the United States Executive Director with respect to whom such officer is appointed in promoting opportunities for exports of goods and services from the United States by doing the following:

(1)Acting as the liaison between the business community and the multilateral development bank involved, whether or not the bank has offices in the United States. The Secretary of Commerce shall ensure that the procurement officer has access to, and disseminates to United States businesses, information relating to projects which are being proposed by the multilateral development bank, and bid specifications and deadlines for projects about to be developed by the bank. The procurement officer shall make special efforts to disseminate such information to small and medium-sized businesses interested in participating in such projects. The procurement officer shall explore opportunities for disseminating such information through private sector, nonprofit organizations.

(2)Taking actions to assure that United States businesses are fully informed of bidding opportunities for projects for which loans have been made by the multilateral development bank involved.

(3)Taking actions to assure that United States businesses can focus on projects in which they have a particular interest or competitive advantage, and to permit them to compete and have an equal opportunity in submitting timely and conforming bidding documents.

“(a) Appointment.—The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall appoint one or more full-time additional procurement officers, for each multilateral development bank, to promote exports of goods and services from the United States by doing the following:

“(1) Acting as the liaison between the business community and one or more multilateral development banks, whether or not the banks have offices in the United States. The Secretary of Commerce shall ensure that the procurement officer has access to, and disseminates to United States businesses, information relating to projects which are being proposed by the multilateral development bank involved, and bid specifications and deadlines for projects about to be developed by the bank. The procurement officer shall make special efforts to disseminate such information to small- and medium-sized businesses interested in participating in such projects. The procurement officer shall explore opportunities for disseminating such information through private sector, nonprofit organizations.

“(2) Taking actions to assure that United States businesses are fully informed of bidding opportunities for projects for which loans have been made by the multilateral development bank involved.

“(3) Taking actions to assure that United States businesses can focus on projects in which they have a particular interest or competitive advantage, and to permit them to compete and have an equal opportunity in submitting timely and conforming bidding documents.

“(b) Definition.—As used in this section, the term ‘multilateral development bank’ has the meaning given that term in section 1701(c) of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)).

“(c) Authorization of Appropriations.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Commerce $1,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1993 and 1994 to carry out this section. Amounts appropriated pursuant to this subsection shall be available only for the purpose of making the appointment of additional procurement officers required by subsection (a).”